The Best 2 Podcast

You might know this guest from some oft-quoted lines among Latter-day Saints, such as: “Jesus doesn’t make up the difference. Jesus makes all the difference”; or “it is not a finishing touch; it is the Finisher’s touch”; or perhaps this one: “don’t let the world change you when you were born to change the world.” The author of each of these pithy and inspiring mantras–and today’s guest–is Brad Wilcox.

Brad is a lifelong educator with undergraduate and master’s degrees from BYU and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction with a focus in literacy from the University of Wyoming. He’s the author of more than 30 books and has spoken multiple times in General Conference. His BYU devotional, "His Grace Is Sufficient," remains the most popular speech ever delivered on the BYU campus. Within the Church, he has served as a member of the Sunday School general board and as first counselor in the Young Men General Presidency.

Brad served his mission in the Chile Viña del Mar Mission from 1979 to 1981 and later returned to Chile as president of the Chile Santiago East Mission from 2003 to 2006.

Link to Brad's podcast about "Names in the Book of Mormon": https://rsc.byu.edu/media/y-religion/83

Link to "Gospel Teaching" podcasts, as discussed in the episode: https://rsc.byu.edu/media/y-religion/all?field_find_string_value=Y+Religion+Presents%3A+Gospel+Teaching

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Steven Sharp Nelson is best known for his role as the "Cello Guy" in The Piano Guys, a musical group famous for their unique blend of classical and contemporary music. They’ve released 13 albums, eight of which have reached number one on Billboard’s Classical or New Age Albums charts. The Piano Guys are renowned for performing in breathtaking locations around the world, including atop the Great Wall of China, beside the ruins of Petra, inside the Midway Ice Castles, at the edge of Southern Utah’s red rock cliffs, and in front of the Lincoln Memorial during a presidential inauguration, among many other stunning venues. Their music videos on YouTube have amassed over 2.4 billion views.

Steve, for his part, is a pioneer in “cello-percussion”—think August Rush for the cello. In addition to his accomplishments with The Piano Guys, he’s released three solo albums and holds degrees in music and public administration from the University of Utah. Steve served his mission in both South Korea and New York from 1995-1997.

In this episode, we talk with Steve about his winding road to a musical career, quoting King Benjamin atop Chichén Itzá, the innate value of classical music, how missions promote a deep gratitude for the most basic things of life, relationships forged on and because of the mission, and much more.

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Seth Christensen (no relation) is a good, fun dude who just got back from his mission to Neuquén, Argentina. In this episode, Seth and his dad Justin join me to share four of the biggest things Seth learned from his mission that he didn’t know prior to leaving. Should be a good listen.

Today’s guest, the inimitable Terryl Givens, is a career-long academic, scholar, and public intellectual. He did his undergraduate studies at BYU in Comparative Literature before doing graduate work at Cornell in Intellectual History and later earning a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at UNC Chapel Hill. As a professor, he taught courses on Religion and Literature at the University of Richmond for over 30 years before moving to Utah to act as a Senior Research Fellow for the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship.

Givens is, as my friend and today’s co-host Bronzson says, perhaps the most important LDS thinker of our generation. During his career, he has been incredibly prolific, having published 25 books (and counting) dealing with Mormon studies, history, and philosophy, including such titles as By the Hand of Mormon, The God Who Weeps, and The Crucible of Doubt.
Givens served a mission to São Paulo, Brazil from 1976-1978–a time he calls “pivotal” and “foundational to the rest of his life.” In this episode, we talk about some sources of Givens’ academic inspirations, Latter-day Saint theology as the “most intellectually compelling system of theological thought in the Christian world,” the importance of recognizing “lived Christianity” during the mission, and a whole lot more.

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Mark Wiest is a former VP of Sales at KSL TV and Bonneville International where he worked for 35 years after receiving an undergraduate and MBA degree from BYU. Today, Mark serves the Church in several capacities: first, with his wife as assistant directors of Church VIP Hosting; and second, as a member of the Church’s Young Men Advisory Board.

Mark served his mission to Rosario, Argentina from 1977-1979 and served as mission president of the Mexico Veracruz mission from 2020-2023. He lives in the Salt Lake area and has four children and six grandchildren.

In this episode, my dad joins me to talk with Mark about working for KSL during the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002, the significant impact of the Church’s welfare and humanitarian work, receiving mentorship and training from companions and mission presidents during the mission, why the opportunity to come to know Christ through a mission should evoke a holy envy from other faiths, and a lot more.

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After a summer hiatus, we’re back with today’s guest, Mark Gottfredson. Mark is a strategy consultant who has worked for global management consulting leader Bain & Company for over 40 years. At the beginning of his career, Mark graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA degree. In 2008, Mark published a book called The Breakthrough Imperative: How The Best Managers Get Outstanding Results. During his career, Mark has worked with some of the world’s greatest CEOs and has led specialized performance improvement practices at Bain. In 2005, Consulting Magazine named Mark one of the world’s top 25 consultants.

Mark served in the Japan Tokyo mission from 1976-1978 and returned in 2000 to be the mission president of the Japan Fukuoka mission. He currently lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has 5 children and 11 grandchildren.

In this episode, we talk about the impact of strategic decisions like two-hour church and meetinghouse construction on Church actions like increased temples, the three key indicators of prospective missionary service, how Mark learned to lead as a collaborator, the mission experience as a microcosm of life, and a whole lot more.

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A short episode with my cousin, Isabelle, who recently returned from her mission to California, to debrief on the 5 most important things she learned on her mission that she didn't know after graduating from high school.

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Creating a commercial airline is incredibly hard. Our guest today, David Neeleman, has founded not one but five commercial airlines, including JetBlue, WestJet (the second-largest airline in Canada), Azul Airlines (Brazil’s fastest growing airline), and, most recently, Breeze Airways in the United States. He was even listed by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2004.

Neeleman credits so much of what he has been able to accomplish in his career to the two years he spent serving his mission in Recife, Brazil, from 1978-80 where he has previously said, in part, “my mission saved me. It was the first time in my life that I ever felt like I had some talent.” It was "the defining moment in my life that put me on the path to success… My mission put me on the path that I'm on today and gave me a sense of focus and structure in my life."

In this episode, we discuss the great impact of Azul Airlines in Brazil, past failures introducing new opportunities for success, viewing poverty firsthand as a missionary and resolving to make a difference, the Christlike attribute of regarding all people equally, and a whole lot more.

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Adventures by A Himitsu⁠⁠   / a-himitsu  ⁠⁠

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Our biggest guest yet! Spoiler alert: he’s 6’10.”

I’m talking about former BYU basketball star, Eric Mika. Mika’s had a long and winding basketball career beginning at Lone Peak High School in Utah where his team won the Utah State Championship and was subsequently named the 2013 National Champions by MaxPreps, a stunning outcome for a basketball team from Utah Valley.

After high school, Mika attended two years at BYU where he was the team’s starting center, averaging 20 points and 9 boards his sophomore season, and was named to the All-West Coast Conference team.

After his sophomore season, Mika declared for the NBA draft and has since had a productive career playing professional basketball overseas in places like Italy, Germany, China, Serbia, and France as well as playing on the USA Basketball scout team in 2023 and with the now-defunct G-League Las Vegas Ignite team. Mika recently hung up his sneakers and hosts a podcast of his own called the “Now For Later” podcast where he interviews former professional athletes–such as the likes of Deron Williams, John Stockton, and Danny Ainge–about their transition to normal life after a career in sports.

Mika served his LDS mission in the Rome, Italy mission from 2014-2016 and currently resides in Utah with his family. In this episode, we talk some basketball (with a little easter egg on the NBA’s ascendant star Anthony Edwards); the constancy of change–and successfully adapting to change–in a mission setting mirrored in a basketball setting; the broad perspective gained through selfless service as a young adult; doing what you need versus what you want; and a lot more.

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Adventures by A Himitsu⁠   / a-himitsu  ⁠

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 

Free Download / Stream:⁠ http://bit.ly/2Pj0MtT⁠

Music released by Argofox⁠    • A Himitsu - Adventures [Royalty Free ...  ⁠

Music promoted by Audio Library⁠    • Adventures – A Himitsu (No Copyright ...⁠

Quick solo episode to discuss intentions with the podcast and share a tip for mission preparation in conjunction with Mother's Day.

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